Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 December 2013
3. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline his efforts to address the land eligibility problems farmers are facing; the concession he will apply; and the argument he has put to the EU Commissioner to prevent the imposition of retrospective single farm payment penalties on farmers as a result of the land eligibility issue. [53362/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraWill the Minister outline his efforts to address the land eligibility problems farmers are facing, the concession he will apply, and the argument he has put to the EU Commissioner to prevent the imposition of retrospective single farm payment penalties on farmers as a result of the land eligibility issue?
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. A number of farmers, particularly in the Deputy's county, are concerned about it. We have a problem we need to deal with. Since mid-summer, there has been a change to the way in which mapping is done technically. It allows us to be much more accurate in photographing land parcels across the country. As a consequence of this and the pressure the European Commission is under from external auditors, the Commission is demanding that every country in Europe assess whether payments have been drawn down on land parcels that have been ineligible. Unlike many other countries, Ireland has gone through an extraordinarily detailed process of trying to assess every single land parcel in the country so as to make a judgment on what areas are ineligible for payments. Obviously, we offer farmers an appeals system to test that. We are doing so because we are required to. The alternative is that the Commission would make an assessment of ineligible land in Ireland, multiply its figure probably by five and apply a fine or what is called a disallowance, for which every farmer would have to pay substantially. I cannot and will not allow that.
We have the capacity technologically to proceed accurately. I have no intention of penalising farmers but simply of asking them not to accept payments on land deemed ineligible in 2013. In some limited cases, we have asked farmers to return payments made over the past four years on ineligible land. That is how we minimise the exposure of Irish farming as a whole to penalties that the European Commission would otherwise supply. In case the Deputy thinks this is a bluff, he should consider the penalties that have applied to other countries. In France recently, there was a penalty of €246 million. I am open to correction on that. The United Kingdom and Italy have also received penalties, despite their economic muscle in the European Union. We are trying to minimise the exposure of farmers and we will work with farmers who have a problem to make sure we can put repayment schedules in place for them.
It is totally unacceptable that the Department is now claiming retrospectively on lands that were approved as far back as 2008. What occurred was all done in good faith and on the basis of a good understanding between farmers and farm inspectors. We all know of the very challenging times farmers have experienced in recent years, particularly in the past three because of the weather conditions. What is occurring is imposing further hardship on farmers.
There is mixed land affected, particularly in the south west, which, being next to the western seaboard, bears the brunt of the bad weather coming in from the Atlantic. The mountain terrain breaks the cloud. The Minister will have to examine this seriously and review the penalties being imposed on farmers. They are trying to keep scrub off their land and wipe out the rushes, which is impossible. In many cases, the farmers have receipts. Where they have proof of charges and payments to contractors, it should be taken into account.
It is important to send some very clear messages to farmers. First, we are not asking for any retrospective payments from farmers who have had a big problem. The only payments we decided we would try to reclaim retrospectively this year, in an effort to try to solve the problem, are from some farmers whose ineligible land amounted to less than 3% of their holding. The average farmer in this category has a single farm payment of well over €11,000 and the retrospective payment, in total, is well under €400. Any of the farmers who have a significant problem with ineligible land that comprises more than 3% of their farm will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis next year. If we must put in place longer-term repayment schedules for farmers, we will do so.
I assure the Deputy that we are trying to work through this in as farmer-friendly a way as possible. Anybody who believes we will just put our head in the sand and ignore this issue, thus resulting in the imposition of significant fines and disallowances by the Commission, either does not understand the issue or is kidding himself. The proof of this is in other countries. We have worked with farm organisations on this in some detail. The vast majority of farmers are not affected at all. The percentage of those with a real issue is very much in single figures, and significantly fewer than 1% have a significant issue.
The great majority of affected farmers are family farmers working on poorer land, and many have grazing on commonages. They are the custodians of that land and keep it in as good a condition as possible agriculturally and environmentally.
Let me refer to the duplication of nitrates inspections by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It is very unfair that two Departments are carrying out overly officious nitrates inspections.
Recently I saw some receipts concerning penalties that were issued without explanation to farmers, particularly young farmers on very modest incomes. They concern financial discipline and modulation. I have tried to receive an explanation and would like the Minister to expand on this. The farmers affected are not even getting a letter, just a receipt. There are very substantial cuts.
If the Deputy is concerned about individual cases, he should let us hear about them and we will consider them. On the broader issue, we have been working overtime since the summer to try to ensure that we can avoid the imposition on Ireland of significant penalties to which every farmer in the country would have to contribute, thus resulting in a quite dramatic reduction in my ability to spend and put schemes together. That is what would happen and what is happening in other countries that have not been able or are not willing to deal with the issue of ineligible land. We are trying to deal with it in a way that asks farmers to pay back, without penalty, only moneys drawn down on land ineligible for those payments. The Department is offering farmers an appeals system, and there is a second appeals system, the fast-track appeal system, external to the Department to ensure farmers feel they are being treated fairly in this instance. If anybody has any suggestion as to how we can be more helpful to farmers, I am all ears. We have worked to try to ensure the arrangement is as acceptable to farmers as possible. If farmers have significant problems with the repayment of money that should not have been drawn down, we will provide for long-term payment schedules to facilitate them.
